In the meat packing industry, workers using cutting implements wear protective clothing, including arm protectors that are cut resistant and that protect against injury. These protectors are often in the form of a sleeve and have typically been retained on a worker's arm by pinning the sleeve to the worker's clothing or by binding the top of the sleeve in a manner to tighten it around the worker's arm to inhibit it from sliding down during use. It is, of course, difficult to pin the sleeve on without assistance and tightened sleeves that are not pinned tend to slip down, which exposes the worker to danger.
The present invention provides a separate shirt and removable protective sleeve supported by the shirt. The shirt is specially constructed to meet the needs of the meat packing industry and to be wearable as an overgarment with the worker's ordinary work clothing. To that end, it must be light in weight, loose fitting, smooth, and flexible to avoid interfering with the worker's freedom of movement. It must also be thin, cool and porous because some workers are in a very warm atmosphere, as on the kill floor, and others work in a partially refrigerated atmosphere, and both do not wish to add to the effect and especially not to the bulk of their existing clothing when wearing the shirt that supports the protective sleeve. In addition, the shirt must provide stable support across the upper shoulder area to retain the sleeve in a position fully covering the arm notwithstanding the active movements required by the worker's tasks.